Keys are generally manufactured uniformly by the same manufacturer with regard to the depth and position of notches cut along the shank portion of a key. Conventional keys, having a plurality of spaced notches cut along the key's shank portion, may be duplicated by using a template key to provide a pattern for a cutter wheel which will form a duplicate key from a blank key. Alternatively, key duplicating machines have heretofore been available which may manufacture duplicate keys using a coded number assigned to the template key. Each manufacturer makes its keys according to a predetermined pattern, and creates a code to match the particular characteristics of the key, such as depth of the notches and distance between the notches spaced longitudinally along the shank of the template key. The duplicating machine may then be used to decode the coded template key, so that a duplicate key may be made using only the code without any need to physically trace the template key notches. Heretofore, such a decoding duplicating machine was complicated and required detail code information to effectuate a duplication. Examples of prior art key duplication apparatus include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,012,991 and 4,117,763 issued to the inventor of this disclosure.
Additionally, alignment of the template key with the key shank of the blank is a necessary step in order to duplicate a key from a blank using the template key. In order to achieve alignment of the duplicated key and the original template key, a notch-positioning means must be used to bring the key cutter wheel into proper positioning to cut the duplicate key. If the master template key is cut improperly or is not available, the decoding cutter must fairly and accurately follow the template key code to create a duplicate key without the benefit of a template key. Conventional duplication machines using a coded template key have been complicated and not easily adjustable. What is needed is a simplified key duplication mechanism which also may operate based upon a manufacturer's code or by use of a template key. The ability of a key duplication machine to make duplicate keys based upon only a code is significant in view of the fact that exact duplication from a template key is not always possible, especially where the template key is itself a duplicate.